Perks

What Are Perks?

Perks are passive abilities you equip at the hub before starting a run. Each perk modifies your game — extra starting resources, reduced costs, SI buffs, combat bonuses, and more. You unlock perks through achievements and equip them based on your available perk slots (determined by your level).

Perk Slots by Level

Level	Perk Slots
1-2	1
3-4	2
5-6	3
7-8	4
9-10	5
11+	scales

At max level 10, you can equip 5 perks simultaneously. Choose your loadout based on your playstyle and current goals.

All Perks

Survival Perks

Perk	Effect	Unlock Condition
Hardened Shell	+20 max SI (120 total)	Survive 15 days in a single run
Self-Repair Protocol	+1 SI per 24 game hours	Kill 5 adversaries (lifetime)
Threat Dampener	Adversaries wake 20% later	Die 10 times
Firewall Primer	First 3 attacks deal 0 SI damage	Reach level 5

Hardened Shell is the cornerstone survival perk. 120 SI instead of 100 gives you 20% more runway against incoming damage.

Firewall Primer is excellent early — absorbing 3 attacks means 3 cycles of free damage from adversaries. Against Script Kiddie (72h interval), that’s 9 days of immunity.

Economy Perks

Perk	Effect	Unlock Condition
Seed Capital	Start with 5,000 money	Collect 5,000 stamps (lifetime)
Market Intuition	+15% money from thread rewards	Complete 50 threads (lifetime)
Efficient Allocation	-10% HDD costs on cards	Build 10 constructs (lifetime)
Scavenger Protocol	+200 money per adversary killed	Kill your first adversary

Seed Capital accelerates early game significantly. 5,000 starting money means you can immediately buy multiple Bid Stamps or start saving for a rig upgrade.

Market Intuition compounds over time — 15% more money from every Flip Stamps, Corporate Gig, and Decent Investment thread.

Combat Perks

Perk	Effect	Unlock Condition
Overclocked Hacks	Hack damage +2 per spell	Cast 10 hack spells (lifetime)
Preemptive Strike	Start with 1 random L1 hack spell	Kill the Script Kiddie
Malware Resistance	Survive 5 malware infections	Survive 5 malware (lifetime)

Overclocked Hacks is powerful — it adds +2 damage to every hack spell. A Level 1 spell goes from 1 to 3 damage. A Level 3 spell goes from 9 to 11 damage. This reduces the number of spells needed to kill adversaries.

Preemptive Strike gives you a free L1 hack spell at run start — useful for early Script Kiddie kills.

Infrastructure Perks

Perk	Effect	Unlock Condition
Efficient Allocation	-10% HDD costs	Build 10 constructs (lifetime)

Plus additional infrastructure perks unlocked through construct-building and progression achievements.

Discovery Perks

Perk	Effect	Unlock Condition
Deep Scan	Improved context file discovery rate	Find context files
Dan’s Backdoor	Special starting bonus	Discover specific Dan narrative files
Signal Amplifier	Enhanced communications	Discovery-based unlock

Discovery perks are primarily unlocked by finding context files during gameplay. See the Lore & Context Files guide for drop conditions.

Recommended Loadouts

Survival Build (2-3 slots)

1. Hardened Shell — +20 max SI
2. Firewall Primer — first 3 attacks free
3. Self-Repair Protocol — passive SI regeneration

Best for: new players, hard prestige levels, dangerous world states.

Economy Build (2-3 slots)

1. Seed Capital — 5,000 starting money
2. Market Intuition — +15% money rewards
3. Efficient Allocation — -10% HDD costs

Best for: speed runs, prestige pushes, maximizing growth.

Combat Build (2-3 slots)

1. Overclocked Hacks — +2 hack damage
2. Preemptive Strike — free L1 spell
3. Scavenger Protocol — +200 money per kill

Best for: adversary farming, PvP-focused play.

Balanced Build (5 slots, level 10+)

1. Hardened Shell — survival foundation
2. Seed Capital — fast start
3. Overclocked Hacks — combat efficiency
4. Market Intuition — economy scaling
5. Firewall Primer — early protection

How Perks Apply

• On-game-start perks (Seed Capital, Preemptive Strike, Hardened Shell) modify your starting game state when you create a new run
• Runtime modifier perks (Market Intuition, Overclocked Hacks, Efficient Allocation) apply multipliers during gameplay
• Perks persist across runs — you equip them once at the hub and they apply to every new run
• You can change your loadout at the hub between runs

Tips

• Unlock Scavenger Protocol first — it only requires killing your first adversary and gives +200 money per kill forever
• Firewall Primer at level 5 — prioritize reaching level 5 for this powerful early-game perk
• Hardened Shell pairs with Self-Repair — +20 max SI with passive healing creates strong sustain
• Overclocked Hacks changes kill math — with +2 damage, a single L3 spell deals 11 HP instead of 9. Two L3 spells deal 22 HP — enough to nearly solo the Darknet Collective (36 HP)
• Adapt your loadout — change perks between runs based on your current goals and the world state